The National Right to Work Foundation has submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to strike down California’s requirement that marijuana businesses enter into labor peace agreements as a condition of licensure.

The case, Ctrl Alt Destroy v. Elliott, centers on whether California’s mandate conflicts with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law that governs most private-sector labor relations. According to the Foundation, the state’s framework forces cannabis employers to strike deals with unions even if workers have not voted to unionize, while also requiring businesses to provide organizers access to employees at their workplaces.

The Foundation argues that these provisions violate federal law by intruding on areas Congress reserved for the NLRA. The brief highlights four conditions imposed on cannabis companies: an agreement with a union, restrictions on disrupting union organizing, prohibitions on certain forms of picketing and strikes, and mandatory access for union organizers. Each of these, the filing contends, are issues federal law already governs.

The filing further claims that California’s approach undermines employee rights by allowing bargaining with union officials who may not have majority support in a workplace. “

The NLRA only requires employers to bargain with unions after a majority of employees choose that union to be their exclusive representative, but not before as California’s law does,” the brief notes.

In addition, the Foundation says the state’s mandate for employer access violates property rights and interferes with employees who may not want union solicitation at work.

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said California’s rules are part of a broader effort in several states to expand union influence in the marijuana industry. “California’s scheme has no legal underpinning and will cause employees great harm,” he said, adding that the Ninth Circuit should strike it down.

The court’s ruling could have significant implications not just for California, but for other states that have adopted or are considering similar labor peace requirements in the cannabis sector.